Souls
by Sarah-Alice
Summary: After a car accident takes her sister Clair is alone.  After 7 years without Ava, she comes back as a Shinigami, when things go bad and Grimmjow intervenes will Clair be able to find and accept the truth?
1. Chapter 1

I'll start off with an author's note. I started this with an idea of an OC pairing with Grimmjow, and it kind of grew in my head...mostly cause I had no idea how the two would meet, so I made a back story and then it felt like it needed a bit of dimension...well in any case long story short, a short story got long. I have plans for at least 5 chapters. Possibly more. There will be more canon characters later on, but most will be OC's. There will also be some smut, and violence in later chapters...not necessarily in that order.

~Please don't hate on me, flaming isn't good for my muse, but if you want to give constructive criticism in a polite manner please feel free.

I felt like if I were to describe my original characters it would take away from the storytelling, and I really didn't want that. So here are the physical descriptions on their appearances, and a little bit of setting. First chapter follows after descriptions. Enjoy. :3

OC Descriptions:

Clair is 5'2", a little shorter than average, with small and delicate features. The most noticeable thing about her are her large vivid green eyes, which contrast with a fairly pale complexion and dark raven black hair. Her hair is long and curly, reaching down to the top of her butt, and nearly always kept in a messy bun at the crown of her head. She has a nice figure, hour glass in shape, and she was well endowed but chooses to hide her chest by wrapping it with tensors, appearing almost flat.

Ava is 5'5" a few inches taller than Clair. They are twins but Ava has an overall brighter look to her, even though their faces look similar. She is long, lean and graceful, with a slightly tawny complexion, and light brown wavy hair. Her eyes are just as vivid as Clair's only in a shade of bright blue. Ava's hair is short, reaching only a little past her shoulders, but almost always kept in a neat dancers bun at the back of her head. She is naturally flat, but has an hourglass shape to the rest of her body.

Gabriel is 6'4" with short dark wavy hair, and light brown eyes. He is well muscled and has a tanned complexion. He is large and in charge with a general appearance that seems like he could kill or destroy anything or any one he wanted to.

This story takes place in North America, after the Bleach series. For the sake of simplicity we'll say that Ichigo is out of the picture and so are most of the cast of people that were closest to him.

List of dead:

- Rukia

- Orihime

- Chad

- Ichigo's Family

- Uryuu

We'll also make how they died simple. Ichigo's riatsu went nuts and exploded while they were all at his house. It blasted a hole in Karakurra town about 100feet wide and 50feet deep. A lot of people were injured and a good chunk of the town was destroyed.

Most of the story takes place in a place called The McGregor Institute of Arts. This is a school dedicated to students with exceptional gifts in the arts. It consists of a main dorm for most students, however there are 'houses' for students that qualify and meet age requirements. These 'houses' are coed while the main dorms are separated on either side of the main campus building. It is styled like a Medieval castle, surrounded by gardens and trees. It is close to a small town where some students go to spend spare time on the weekends. This town is called Markham (pronounced Mark-um)

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><p><strong>Chapter One: The McGregor Institute of Arts Shinigami<strong>

Flashback...

Ava stretched at the ballet bar in the basement as Clair sat down to the baby grand piano, their small backpacks were tossed haphazardly in the corner. As Clair flipped through her sheet music Ava tied her pointe shoes and did a few spins. When they finally settled on a pairing of dance and music they started to practice.

This was how every day after school went. On weekends Ava was at the dance studio, and Clair was at lessons, and neither could wait to tell the other what they had learned. At 10 they were considered well beyond benchmarks for success.

Their parents would go to Ava's recitals religiously, and left Clair to her own devices after dropping her at her lessons. On more than one occasion they forgot to pick her up. There were great expectations on Ava to succeed, and Clair was left to do as she pleased.

...End flashback.

Clair ghosted through the halls of the dorm, a large binder clutched tightly to her chest. She headed across campus to the west wing of the main building and walked down the winding stairs to the basement level. It was here that they had practice rooms for musicians and Clair sighed. Why did it have to be in a dingy basement, it looked like an ancient dungeon... This was always her thought while she looked at the grey stone walls, and the lack luster colours painted on the doors. She walked into the last room on the left and locked the door behind her.

Sitting at the piano in the middle of the room, she opened her binder and began to play. Mozart, Bach, Bizet, it all sounded the same. Hollow notes that rang in the acoustically perfect room. The music seemed to hang around her rather than resonate, and after a half hour she couldn't take it any more, and left quickly.

The next morning she trudged off to her dance class. She sighed, dance wasn't her thing, it had been Ava's... She sighed again. The instructor clapped her hands, signalling the beginning of class, which meant the gruelling stretches and repetitive exercises was about to begin.

"Good morning class." Her shrill voice cut through the last of the chatter.

"Good morning Madame Ponfour." The class nearly sang. While none of her students liked her, Madame Ponfour had been considered one of the greatest prima ballerinas in her time, which luckily for her earned enough respect for the class to behave.

"We have a special surprise today. A little gift if you will." Everyone looked at each other, no one had ever seen the Madame in such a good mood, they were suspicious at best about this so called 'gift'. "Her name is Ava Brown."

Clair's eyes widened in shock at the name. Surely there was more than one Ava in the world who aspired to be a ballerina, besides the last name was all wrong. Clair shook her head a little and sighed, then Madame Ponfour assigned this Ava as her practice partner, this caused another sigh to escape Clair's lips, and earned her dirty looks from everyone and they erupted into soft whispers. Clair only caught the words she was used to hearing, 'stuck up', 'too good for us', 'spoiled'...it was always the same, and Clair put on a look that said she simply didn't care.

Ava didn't try to make conversation, so neither did Clair. When class was done they changed into their uniforms, and that was when Ava spoke.

"Do you not like me?" Clair winced, not only did this girl have those same eyes, that same hair, same everything, just a little older, she even had the voice.

"No. As a matter of fact I do not." Ava looked a little shocked at this little out burst.

"Why not?" The girl batted her big blue eyes in a pleading fashion.

"Because, I don't. Now drop the subject. I'm willing to be polite with you because Madame Ponfour won't let me change my practice partner, but I refuse to be your friend." With that Clair turned and left the other girl in shock and disbelief. Let her be insulted, Clair thought as she fought back tears.

Clair made her way quickly to her dorm after the rest of her classes and gathered her binder of sheet music again, when a boy walked through her wall. Clair smiled at him and held out her hand. He took her hand and she walked him to the music room she practised in.

She played a few songs while the boy explained why he couldn't pass on, Clair hushed him and stroked his head. "You'll be alright." She soothed the boy and let him lean on her as she played. When the soul finally left her she sighed and decided that it was time to leave too.

When she opened the door Ava was standing there, dressed in some sort of weird robe with a sword. Clair gave her a look of shock and dismay before speaking. "Don't let campus security catch you with that thing, you'll never see this campus again."

Ava was silent for a moment, and then slowly pointed to herself. "You can see me?"

Clair nodded. "Of course I can...why wouldn't I?"

This made Ava quiet again, she looked like she was deep in thought and then broke the silence abruptly. "Meet me at my room in 20 minutes, I'll explain what I can."

With that Ava was gone and Clair was left alone, and she sighed. She might go see what this strange girl had to say, but then again maybe she wouldn't, after all who wanted to see a look alike of their dead twin. Clair walked back to her room in silent contemplation. After a while she found herself at Ava's door, and before she could knock it flew open and she was pulled inside, letting out a little squeak of surprise.

"Gabriel, you were supposed to take care of this, now are you sure this is the girl you erased the memory of?" Clair was facing a man in the same strange clothes Ava was wearing before, sword and all.

"Yes I'm sure that this was her... Clair right?" Clair nodded, a little stunned by the sudden question, and a little confused. "Tell me what do you remember about growing up?"

"What do you mean? Piano practice? Dance recitals? Family?" Clair was really confused now, what did he want to know?

"Family, who is in your family?" He was looking a little worried now.

"There's me, my mom, my dad," Clair paused and braced herself, she hadn't told anyone about her sister, and frankly the memory of her made Clair's stomach hurt, but this guy seemed to insist... "And I used to have a sister."

Gabriel's face fell, and it looked like he would pass out he went so white. "What happened to her?"

"I don't feel like answering that question. In fact I've probably answered too many already, who are you any way, guys aren't allowed in the girl's dorms, and what's with swords today?" Clair had reached her breaking point and she backed away from Ava.

Ava sighed and sat on her bed. "Might as well explain it to her then..."

Gabriel grabbed the chair from Ava's desk and offered it to Clair, she chose to stand but Gabriel didn't sit in the chair, he chose instead to sit on the floor. Ava sighed again and then began her explanation.

"I know what happened to your sister, better than you do. I also know why you can see spirits now. When we were what, 10? We were in a car accident with mom and dad on our way home from picking you up at a piano recital. They were fine, but we were both on death's doorstep, you probably remember looking down at our bodies...It was pretty frightening." Clair sat down in the chair tears in her eyes. "They gave us a choice to live or to die, you picked life, and I didn't..."

"Why not?" Clair couldn't believe her ears, but she felt compelled to, how could Ava have known any of this if she wasn't Clair's sister? "Why didn't you pick life...why did you leave me alone to suffer their ambitions?"

"I'm sorry...I realize now how guilty you must have felt...You have to know, the soul reapers, they told me my body was broken, that I would never walk, let alone dance ever again, that was half of the reason, I couldn't bear the thought of never dancing... The other half was because of you, they said that only one of us was going to live past 12, if I chose to die then, you would be allowed to live on, if I had chosen to live you might have been the one to die young." Ava wiped a few tears from her eyes. "It was a hard choice to make at that age..."

"So, you're my Ava? I still can't believe you." Clair was beginning to sense an elaborate scheme to prank her now, not many of her classmates and dorm mates were friendly with her...well actually none were friendly per say, but a few of them just left her alone which was friendly enough for her standards.

"If I weren't your Ava I wouldn't know that you don't like dancing, you prefer the piano which is lucky for you because when we were younger you were the biggest klutz I knew. Your favourite song to perform on the piano is Pachbel's Canon in D minor, I also wouldn't know that you were the one who broke mom's Ming vase but I took the fall for you because she would've killed you, but we both knew I was the favourite and I'd get a slap on the hand. Oh, and you have a birth mark that looks like a straw-"

Clair clamped her hands over Ava's mouth. "OK OK! I believe you just not in front of people!"

Her face was beat red as she looked to Gabriel, who raised an eye brow in an inquisitive manner. "So Ava, why can she see us, you said you had that part figured out too, and how did she avoid having me erase her memory?"

"We're twins. I had enough riatsu to be a shinigami when I died, which means that I had a reservoir when I was alive. Clair is my sister, my twin, it only stands to reason that she should have at least the same potential as me." Clair cleared her throat and raised a finger in the air in a matter of fact way. "Besides we were sent here because of all the Hollow activity, which means that there is some one here with a lot of spirit energy, my sister can see us, ergo she is the Hollow bait and the reason we are here."

Gabriel sighed and stood up. "This leaves us with a problem then. You heard about what happened in the Japanese sector, with that Kurosaki kid didn't you? You shouldn't let that happen to her, not only was it a pain for the Seireitei, but also the kid's friends and family, not to mention the town that was nearly completely wiped off the planet! She shouldn't know about us, she shouldn't be able to see us."

"Who do you think you are trying to take my memories of my sister from me? And how dare you try to decide what is best for me!" Clair cried out with indignation. "Besides I'm like no one else, and no one else is like me. I _won't _be lumped in with the crowd."

Ava smiled and sighed. "Oh well. It was worth a try Gabriel but she'll just have to know about us."

"You were really hoping for this outcome weren't you?" Gabriel scowled down at her, and spent the rest of the evening explaining hollows and pluses and their duties as shinigami in the human world. He also said he would restore their parents' memories of Ava, and adjust the memories of the other students at the school.

"Put me in the music class, and take me out of the damned dance class. I hate it there."

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><p>Sorry it got a little wordy and long but...well I wanted to ease you into things, next chapter is coming quickly, and after that it will take a while. ^_~<p>

Look forward to some Grimmjow~!

~Sarah-Alice


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Beauty and the Ape**

Clair had been waiting months for a vacancy to open up in the more private apartment dorms. Instead of living on a floor in the main dorm with community bathrooms and shower stalls, she would have a room in a 4 bedroom house and an en-suite bathroom. Instead of having to go to the dungeons to practice the house would be set up for music students. Of course there were houses for dancers and painters too, but Clair wasn't good at visual arts and she wasn't good enough to get into a dance house. Only top students were awarded the privilege of living in the coed dorms.

Clair stepped into the house and went through the living room, noting a baby grand piano sitting in the corner across from a plushy white couch, a violin and music stand by a big window, and a few other instruments. She noticed a plate of cookies on the kitchen counter alongside a note. Her housemates weren't home, and wouldn't be for a while. She yawned and pulled her suitcase up the stairs to her new room. After putting her clothes away she slunk down the stairs and placed a cookie between her lips before sitting down to the piano and going through a few scales before playing a lazy song she heard on the radio. She smiled around the cookie and didn't notice someone come in and sit on the sofa behind her.

When she finished she pulled her knees up to her chest and spun around stopping suddenly when she caught sight of the tall man lounging on the sofa clapping. She sized him up a little as a light blush crossed her cheeks, he was muscular with a shock of blue hair, well blue was a strong word it looked closer to white, and serious looking blue eyes. They were dark and he had a strong jawline, and quite frankly he looked a little scary.

"Very nice." His deep voice resonated and he shocked her as he bent down and stole the cookie from her mouth with his lips and munched on it.

Without a word she ran up the stairs and slammed her door shut. That was scary, she thought as she put a hand to her still hot face. Later that week she learned that the guy who had interrupted her first day in the house was named Jack. Her other two housemates were Kira and Simon, they had a much better appreciation for personal space. They were nice enough, but only really stayed in the dorms during the week, and went to Kira's parents' house in the town nearby on weekends. Which meant trying to survive with Jack alone for nearly three days...not to mention holidays...this was not something she wanted to hear.

She sighed in her room as the first Friday after moving in came along. She had avoided Jack all week, which was no easy task, it seemed like he was waiting behind every corner. She sighed heavily again before slipping into a set of soft light pink silk pyjamas. Her hair was loose down her back in curls and her chest was unbound with the top two buttons undone to keep them from popping off. She pulled the covers of her bed down and prepared to crawl in when she paused at the sound of music. It was a violin, and it was being played perfectly...had Kira come home early?

She inched down the stairs, that was impossible...she leaned her head into the living room and saw Jack's broad shoulders and heard him start to play Canon. Well that got her creeping towards the piano. How could she possibly resist her favourite song? She sat down and began to play an accompaniment

to his violin. He didn't miss a note, didn't stumble, and didn't seemed shocked at all. By the end of the song he had slipped behind her and when the last notes ended and Clair's guard was down he grabbed her by the waist and under her knees and pulled her onto the sofa on his lap.

Clair struggled and kicked at this guy, who did he think he was for goodness sakes. She threw her elbow back and felt it collide with his face, which caused him to snarl at her. "LET ME GO YOU BIG APE!"

"Shut up and calm down! You should know I'm trying to be very patient with you!" Jack didn't sound like he was being patient at all, but his deep voice and strong arms pinned her to him and she stopped struggling. "Shit...I think you busted my nose..."

"Serves you right..." Clair muttered as she tried to wiggle free.

"Now all I want to do is talk to you and stuff housemates are supposed to do...the dean says I need to be more social." He sounded like he was pouting, or sighing impatiently about it. "So if I let you go there are 2 rules to follow. 1, No running away. 2, No more hitting me...that hurt."

Clair nodded, she didn't really intend on following rule number 1, and she wasn't very committed to rule number 2, but she didn't want to be pinned like this all night. She sat on the sofa and straightened out her pyjamas, glancing up she saw him raise an eyebrow looking straight at her chest.

"What, have you never seen a girl before? Sheesh, get over it!" Clair's voice was strong but her face gave away her embarrassment at him staring, it was a darker pink than her pyjamas.

"Where were you hiding that, and why?" His cheeks were dusted a lighter shade of pink than Clair's as he quickly looked away.

"Because...it would just cause a fuss...people are easily distracted and riled up..." By people Clair meant guys.

It was a long awkward night, and Jack kept her there for hours asking about dance, and music. Clair was feeling a little better about sharing the house with this guy, he wasn't so bad. It turned out he was just going through some intense anger management therapy. Apparently he had a violent streak that needed to be curbed, and he said that he was working really hard on it, which impressed Clair a little bit.

Clair snuck out of the house before Jack could trap her with any more questions, or any nonsense like that. She was in a pink T-shirt, and she hadn't even had time to tie her hair back, or put the tensers on to hide her chest. She sighed as she walked down through the gardens. The new gardener was doing an excellent job.

When she got a little further from the main buildings she got the eerie sense that someone was watching her. She quickened her pace until she broke out into a run, ending up near a small copse of trees. "JACK THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

She screamed as she tripped over a root, and a large Hollow came into view, licking its lips Clair screamed even louder. She dodged a hand grabbing at her. "Yummy yummy..."

The creature was laughing at her as she ran and dodged until it landed a hit and tossed her aside knocking her unconscious. When Clair opened her eyes she saw the creature attempting to bite through her chain of fate, her vision still blurry. She cried out in horror and agony when she realized what was happening, where was Ava? She was supposed to be killing these things. The creature looked like someone eating spaghetti her chain of fate in its mouth, tears rolled down her face as she grabbed hold of her chain and tried to pull it from the jaws of the monster.

"You idiot!" Jack shouted as he brought a sword down on the Hollow, killing it instantly. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OUT ALONE?"

His yelling didn't help, and Clair just stared at her chain unable to fully grasp the situation, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I-it almost broke..."

"Stop crying... You aren't dead yet..." Jack mumbled and Clair just looked at him, he looked different, a weird looking white outfit wrapped him, and the shirt was open exposing his well defined chest. It looked strange to her but it seemed to suit him. "We'll get this handled, and explained properly."

Jack pulled her up in his arms in a rough sort of manner before the world blurred past Clair as he launched into a Sonido. Her head swam when he put her down and he knocked on the door to the gardener's shed. "KISUKE! Open up! URAHARA!"

Clair shied away from Jack taking a couple of steps away from him as he yelled through the door, the person he wanted to open the door apparently wasn't moving fast enough.

"Where are you going?" He raised an eyebrow to her and she felt something tingle in the air around her, and he huffed a little before the tingling got a little heavy but she didn't strain under it and a look of confusion scrawled over her tiny features. Jack's face was now determined as the ground cracked a little beneath his feet.

"Grimmjow! What is with the riatsu, keep it down out here, you want to attract hollows or something?" A man with grey hair and a funny looking hat emerged out of the shed. "Oh, hello there. What are you doing out of your body...we should get that fixed up right away."

Clair felt the tingling heavy sensation pass as the man at the door, she guessed Kisuke, motioned for her to enter. Jack carried her body for her so she wasn't dragging it around like a ball and chain. When they were inside Kisuke looked the chain over and hummed a little bit. "It looks like dogs have been chewing on it, what happened Grimmjow?"

_'Grimmjow?'_ Clair looked startled and confused and Kisuke laughed a little at her response.

"Did you know that your face makes a cute scrunchy look when your confused, look at the way the nose crinkles!" Clair blushed a little, no one told her she looked cute and she didn't know how to take the compliment, out of panic she wound up and punched him squarely in the nose.

Jack laughed as Kisuke recovered. "I told you she had a wicked sense of humour."

Clair glared at Jack. "Is Grimmjow your last name or something?"

"Grimmjow is my name," he paused as she looked like she was about to hit him. "GrimmjowJaegerjaquez, it's such a mouthful so I use Jack while I'm around our housemates."

That seemed to get him out of trouble but Kisuke was about to get into more trouble as he reached out to touch her and she spun on her toes lifting a leg to kick him swiftly. "You're going to tell me when you're going to touch me, and to what end it is for. Understand old man?"

Kisuke smiled wickedly, but then it softened into something more light hearted. "Ok, ok, I promise. I need to get your spirit back into your body. Your chain was heavily damaged it needs time to heal, and you being back in your body will be the best way to do that."

Clair let the man lift her to her body and he eased her back to her form. Her eyes fluttered and she shook her head a little to clear it. She mumbled to herself as she got up off the floor, checking for injuries. "Never thought I'd feel that again..."

"Should I call you Urahara, or Kisuke?" She said turning to the gardener and then to Jack. "And should I call you Grimmjow, or Jack?"

"Either or." Kisuke shrugged and Clair sighed, this man was far too easy going.

"Jack around the housemates please, you can call me whatever you like if we're alone." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well then, now that this is settled, I'm going to try to wipe it from my memory long enough to go to bed and get some sleep." She stepped towards the door only to find the two of them blocking her way. She scowled at them.

"It's polite to thank people for saving your life." Grimmjow snapped, he had been holding himself back but she was ignoring kindness which wasn't always his strong suit.

"Besides, I wanted to explain a few things to you about what happened." Kisuke prepared to go into a long and in depth lecture on the dangers of hollows.

"I know what it was, and I know who was supposed to kill it. I don't want to dwell on this, step aside or else." She had her hands on her hips as Grimmjow stepped forward.

"Or else?" He rested his own hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow at her. He dared her to hit him in this form. He gathered his riatsu and pushed it down on her, cracking the floor but earning no signs of distress from her.

She wound back and slammed her fist into his face, he didn't flinch and it took a minute for the pain in her hand to reach her brain. Once there, the pain arranged her face in a crumpled look as tears fell from her eyes and she cradled her hand. It was already starting to bruise, and she fell to her knees as she cradled it.

Truth be told Grimmjow had wanted to laugh when he saw her pull back to punch him, and he almost did until he watched her face contort in pain and then he felt a little sorry for her. The last time she hit him he was in a faux body, without his Hierro. He wouldn't laugh at the girl this time, she didn't know about his Hollow powers after all. "Serves you right."

Kisuke sighed and watched the two bicker, one getting louder and yelling, while the other blubbered. _'By the gods what have I gotten myself into?' _He thought as he sighed. "Grimmjow, why don't you take her home. She will need some rest to help heal."

"Fine." Grimmjow growled, and picked her up roughly.

Clair simply pouted and glared at Kisuke before Grimmjow launched into a Sonido and the world rushed by her again. She didn't speak to him for hours. She had taken a shower and inspected her hand before wrapping an ice pack around it. To be honest she was just upset she had let herself get so out of hand, especially where her piano fingers were concerned. Practice tomorrow was going to be agonizing.

So there was chapter 2. Grimmy is so cute when he's been tamed, ne? Ooooo and Urahara is here too? I wonder why! Hmmm...maybe we'll just have to wait and see...

A little fluff and smut in the next chapter, hope you look forward to it...by the gods its hard to get these two into an intimate situation...

This chapter started out being really really really really short at only 2 pages, and the next was getting on to 6 pages, so I added some of what was supposed to be chapter 3...

~Sarah-Alice


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Hollows, and Frogs! Oh my!

"You gonna talk to me, or just brood." Grimmjow almost snarled, he was back in a faux body and trying to stretch it out a little. Clair didn't want to talk to him, but she really did wonder a few things about him.

"Where did that mask thing go? And those weird clothes..." She felt her cheeks get warm when she realized she almost missed seeing his abs, and chest bared to the world.

"You liked 'em didn't ya?" A wicked grin flashed over his face as he guessed her thoughts, she turned her back to him and pretended to brood over her hand. "That's how I look in the spirit world, pretty cool huh?"

"Not really." She tried to sound like she didn't care, but she remembered even in her distressed state how warm and comforting he could feel.

"This is just a body Urahara made for me, consider it like a costume. It suppresses my spirit force to keep from attracting attention." He was trying to sound cool again. Clair rolled her eyes and felt a little trapped in the kitchen and moved out to sit at the piano. She tinkled the ivories with her uninjured left hand.

"Spirit force?" Clair asked confusion clear in her voice.

"Yeah, we call it riatsu. It's a measure of your strength, generally speaking the more riatsu a person has, the more powerful he is. Well, so long as he can control it." Grimmjow sounded a little distant and distracted.

Clair looked over to find his scary features pulled into something that looked like it was trying to be stoic. She stood and sighed. She really was more angry with herself for getting into trouble with her sister away. Speaking of which... "Did my sister assign you to watch over me?"

"Your sister?" Grimmjow now looked thoroughly confused.

"Yes, Ava. She's a shinigami too." Clair looked at his horrified expression and didn't understand.

"A shinigami?" He worked hard to erase the emotion from his face, and sighed. "I'll look into where our orders came from tomorrow. Just go to bed, and no more sneaking around...I should have told you I was here to protect you, but no one told me you already knew so much...I-I didn't want to startle you with all this..."

Clair was the one raising an eyebrow now. Was that blush on his cheeks, she wondered while he shied away from her gaze. She looked down at the ground before walking over and wrapping her arms around him gently. "Thank you for saving me. You really did arrive just in time."

With that she left him standing there cursing his nature, and cursing how soft he had become under Urahara's training and tutoring. Grimmjow might owe the man his life, but really humanizing him was almost going too far. He took a deep breath in as he smelled her scent still lingering in the air.

After that Clair would only go for a morning walk 3 times a week instead of everyday. Grimmjow insisted that she follow his orders, he was there to keep her safe, and he couldn't do that unless he was around her. She had just sighed, he hated getting up, and she struck up the bargain after threatening to go out on her own. The thought of another Hollow attacking her scared her senseless, but she knew that if she sounded serious the oaf would agree, and he did.

Sometimes their walk lead them to Kisuke's shed, and Grimmjow ducked in to give a report on the activity of souls, and hollow activity. Clair had started to get worried about Ava. She hadn't heard from her sister in twice the length of time that she said she would be back. Not to mention Kisuke had no knowledge that there was a shinigami assigned to the area. Grimmjow noticed how gloomy she was getting, he didn't like spending so much time so close to her it was making him softer. She didn't seem to notice how he was feeling all the time, not like he noticed. It was irritating.

He decided to stay silent about her emotional well being, after all he was just there to keep other Hollows from consuming her riatsu. Why? He had no idea...Urahara had told him it was important, and he trusted him, so he did his job. He didn't know what Urahara was planning but Grimmjow frowned as he found himself doubting the man he considered to be worth respecting.

Clair sighed as she watched him drift in and out of deep thought as she played, she wondered if he noticed her looking at him when she played? It was then that she had time to study his emotions. He didn't show many, and she liked it when he did. It made him seem almost human...

She sighed and put her sheets away, and before she knew it he was standing over her. "Is it feeling better?"

She tossed her papers in surprise. He didn't think he would ever get tired of watching how easily she flustered and turned pink. "What?"

He pulled her hand into his, and she remembered how she had hurt it, in fact it had stopped hurting days ago. Truthfully, she had almost forgotten about it. "Yes it's much better." She spluttered out as she pulled her hand back to her body holding it close, her cheeks turning a soft rosy pink.

Next week was a school holiday, a time to practice for exams to ensure the students were progressing at the pace they needed to, to stay in the school. Clair knew that Kira and Simon would be gone the whole week and she nearly groaned that she would have to spend so much alone time with Grimmjow. Not that she didn't like his company, just that he never wanted her to leave the house. With so much free time she was going to go crazy all locked up in the house. That Friday she said goodbye to the two who she now considered her friends and sighed closing the door.

She peeked into Grimmjow's room and saw him curled up on his bed around his pillow, and decided not to wake him, she slipped out of the house. She wasn't going to go very far...she tried to justify leaving on her own as she started to walk around the back of the house, and then into the gardens. She sat under a tree and just stared out wondering when or even _if_ Ava would come back. Tears rolled down her cheeks and then she felt a tingle, it didn't feel the same as when Grimmjow got really mad at her, this was different, darker. She frowned.

"I thought he would never leave you alone." A twisted voice came from a few shadows that had gathered in some nearby trees.

Clair saw the mask and stood quickly, the creature stood also. Clair started to panic, she wanted to scream for Grimmjow, but found herself unable to call upon her voice, her mouth flapped soundlessly.

"The master will be most pleased, and grant me great power for this..." The Hollow looked like a frog, a big, black scary frog. He was licking his lips and laughing at the fear that radiated out from her.

Clair turned and tried to run away, only to find a slimy tongue wrapping around her waist, she finally found her voice and screamed as loud and long as her lungs permitted. The now familiar sound of a Sonido approached and Grimmjow's blade severed the creatures tongue. It wailed and screamed causing Clair to cover her ears, she almost wanted to close her eyes as blood splattered all around them while the severed tongue twitched on the ground. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"You damned woman! YOU ARE SERIOUSLY BEING A FUCKING PAIN IN MY ASS! How many times do I need to tell you not to do things alone!" Grimmjow turned all his fury on the Hollow, it wasn't particularly powerful, but the frog was intent on killing if not consuming Clair and Grimmjow was blinded by fury and unable to fight effectively.

It shot passed Grimmjow, and pinned Clair face first into the ground as a slime oozed out of his body. Clair couldn't believe how sticky and thick the slime was, he wasn't holding her hard enough to really hurt her, but now the slime pooled around her, and it started to interfere with her breathing. Soon she was chocking on the goo, and Grimmjow slashed at the frog. It shouldn't be this hard to kill it.

Then he noticed Clair wasn't fighting against the slime and force against her any more. He let a cero blast through the frog's mask and it disappeared, leaving Clair to finish drowning in the goo. Grimmjow frantically pulled her from the slime, and looked at her worried that she wasn't breathing. Only one thing to do. He placed his lips tightly over her's and pulled the slime from her lungs. After a few times she started to cough and sputter. "There you are...Had me worried for a minute."

Clair was trembling and was glad when Grimmjow gathered her up in his arms and walked slowly to the house instead of using his Sonido. He walked straight up the stairs and to her room, and she started to protest as he walked her towards her bathroom, insisting she was fine. Grimmjow just grunted, and set her down on the floor. There was no way he would be able to strip her down and force her into a shower, but there was no way she had the strength to clean herself up. He ran the water and sighed before pulling her into the shower with their clothes on.

"Why the hell did you do that? I was so sure the first time you were attacked you were scared enough to let me watch over you...do you hate my company?" He had been pondering it all week, he just didn't know that it was chewing away at him so badly.

Clair grabbed onto his white jacket and just trembled. She didn't want to have this sort of conversation right now, but a glance up at his eyes told her he needed an answer. "N...no...I don't...I just-"

He sighed and cut her off by hugging her close to him. It was enough that she didn't hate him. When the slime was rinsed off of them, Clair insisted she wanted a real shower, and Grimmjow was not about to deny her that. He got out and sat on the floor and patiently waited for her to exit the shower, she hadn't expected him to stay in the room, and exited in the nude her back to him.

Grimmjow froze when he turned to her as she stood there water clinging to her bare skin and it almost seemed to sparkle. Yes she had looked appealing to him with her clothes clinging to her body but he had been able to resist any sort of male temptation. However, her standing there without even that barrier to his eyes was nearly unbearable. He opened his mouth to speak but she turned around and flushed pink from the tops of her large round breasts to the tips of her ears.

Did she always blush that far down her body he wondered. Then he saw the dangerous look in her eyes, she drew her hands around herself instead of trying to hit him. He cleared his throat and grabbed a soft white towel and handed it to her. "Here..." He mumbled in a low tone.

Clair all but snatched the towel from him and covered herself up. She was absolutely mortified. He had seen her naked. Naked. No clothes. She couldn't wrap her head around it, then she worried about weather or not she looked alright...that was silly it didn't matter how she looked.

Grimmjow could have gone down the hall to his own room to get a shower, but instead he hopped into her's and turned the water to cold before stripping down. Dear gods...what had he done to deserve such distraction. He heard a soft thump on the other side of the door, and grabbed a towel to cover himself before racing through the doorway to see Clair sprawled on the ground. He panicked briefly and relaxed as he saw her chest move with breath, and felt her soft riatsu, he had never done that before, sought out her riatsu. It was soft, much like the towels she had.

He sighed and picked her up off the floor, he didn't want her catching a cold or anything like that. He knew humans could be fragile, Urahara constantly reminded him of the fact. He paused when the towel slipped and he felt her bare skin under his fingers, and put her down to jump back into the cold water. He was NOT prepared for this sort of thing. He sighed as he wandered to his room and put on a T-shirt and loose pair of silk boxers, he then grabbed an old but comfortable shirt and a pair of boxers that he had accidentally bought too small.

He closed his eyes and thought of anything he could to distract his mind from the touch of her skin as he pulled the clothes over her. When she was dressed he sighed in relief. He was finally able to pick her up and place her in her bed. Then shock overtook him as she held onto his shirt firmly in her sleep, he tried to pull away but her face crinkled and he feared waking her. It would be a shame to wake her up...he decided to wait until she let go. He crawled in next to her and she just got closer, he was too nervous to sleep and insisted he was just waiting until her grip loosened, and so he wouldn't touch her back no matter what, no matter what he had to keep his hands to himself.

He didn't remember falling asleep, and he didn't know when he had curled himself around her protectively. There was sweat on her forehead and she felt too warm against him. Pressing a hand to her forehead he felt the fever, and flared his riatsu as a distress signal to Urahara.

When the other man arrived and saw the girl in Grimmjow's clothing he lifted an eyebrow before checking her vitals. He hummed grimly and then sighed. He cast a few healing kido and patted Grimmjow on the shoulder. "She should be feeling well enough to wake up in a few hours," He paused and licked his lips, "but, she shouldn't do much for the next couple of days. If she doesn't wake up in the next few hours send out another distress call..."

Grimmjow had never seen Urahara look so serious, and he found himself frowning before sitting next to her. Kisuke relaxed when he didn't feel the distress signal at all the rest of the day. Grimmjow would just have to keep her quiet and in bed for the next couple of days...something that was totally necessary, he had completely healed her with the kido and just wanted to see what would happen... He grinned wildly to himself at the thought.

Grimmjow relaxed when her eyes flicked open about an hour after Urahara left. Then he worried for his safety, here he was sitting on the edge of her bed while she was wearing his clothes, and the last thing she probably remembered was him looking at her naked body. He blushed a little at his own memory of that incident... Clair just frowned at him as he looked distant.

"I feel like I've been hit by a truck..." She mumbled and started sitting up only to be met with hands pushing her down. It seemed as though she wasn't allowed, and then she noticed that her pyjamas felt weird, she always wore silk to bed, and this was cotton... She blushed as she looked down at her attire. "What the hell happened?"

"You passed out..." Grimmjow was glad he was being given the benefit of the doubt, but was embarrassed with his actions. "I didn't want to leave you naked on the floor in a wet towel and I sure as hell didn't want to go through your drawers...so I uh...I dressed you...But I didn't see anything, I swear!"

He wasn't looking at her but he felt as though he was pushing his luck and expected her to try to kick his ass. Instead he was met with the mumbling of her calling him a pervert, and rolling over. Sure she felt violated, but it had been a sweet action, instead of taking advantage like a lot of guys might have he had dressed her and put her to bed with a real concern for her health. She sighed, and tried to sit up again.

"Urahara says you need to rest..." He placed his hand on her forehead and noticed the fever had gone down considerably. "You were feverish earlier..."

"Well I feel fine right now!" She nearly yelled as she punch him in the side of the head, and sure enough it felt like she was back to being normal. "Now get off of me you big oaf!"

Grimmjow did get off of her, but kept an arm around her waist, holding her close. He felt her squirm some more in his hold, and his boxers got a little tighter as she brushed against him with her hips. He knew it was unintentional, but he couldn't help himself, no matter what he was still a man after all. A man with a history of womanizing, and he hadn't lain with a woman in quite some time. He closed his eyes and wished she would settle down.

Clair's face went red when she felt something solid when her hips pressed against him in an effort to find some sort of comfortable position squished against his chest. Then a wicked idea came to her, how far could she push him before he snapped? She smiled to herself, she would force him out of the room and be able to sit up and stretch a little. It was fool proof.

She kept moving, shifting, pressing against him, and then pulling away, it didn't take long for him to snap a little. "Would you just settle the fuck down..."

She turned to face him, pouting, and that nearly did it for him, that cute look on her face with the sex appeal of her breasts pressed against his solid chest. "But it's hard to get comfy..."

_'It's hard alright...too hard...'_ He thought as he tried to keep his mind off of her. He didn't realize how deprived he had been since Urahara had taken him in. He sighed. "You're going to kill me you know that?"

She gave a confused look to hide her disappointment at him not leaving. She rolled back over and continued to shift and squirm around. After just a few minutes of her continued squirming she found herself on her back, hands pinned to either side of her head and his lips nearly touching her ear, and his body pressed against her own. Her breath hitched as she felt the warm breath pass over her ear.

"I hope you understand right now what you're doing to my body..." His voice trembled as he held himself back, he wasn't about to rape the girl, no by the time he got done with her she would be begging for him...but those weren't the thoughts he should be having.

She licked her lips nervously, it was hard not to notice the solid mass pressing gently against her. Clair then nodded slowly.

"So I suggest you stop fidgeting and try to get some sleep before you put me in a position where I cannot stop myself." He paused and pressed his cheek to her's in a nuzzle just to feel the soft skin, truth be told, he was barely able to control himself at this point, the images of her naked form swirled in his brain. "Understood?"

Clair trembled a little as he nuzzled her, being pinned beneath him was both frightening and exciting. Maybe she would see just how far she could get him to go with this... She nodded with his cheek still next to her's.

"But you should know I feel perfectly healthy..." She managed to squeak out the words into the ear that was near her.

_'Damn you Urahara...' _Grimmjow thought as he closed his eyes, he was suddenly jarred back to the young woman beneath his body as her tongue snaked out and touched his ear. He sat up over her and looked down in pure shock. "What the hell are you trying to do?"

She was pouting again. "What's wrong? Can't handle your own game here?"

That pout looked so innocent, yet the tone of voice was both a tease and challenge, he snarled as his cheeks turned pink, he considered just leaving and decided against it. She wanted to play this game, then fine, he'd play. He leaned back down quickly grabbing her lips with his and tangling his fingers in her hair. He wouldn't take it further but she would remember this.

He pulled away as he felt her breathing shift and when he pulled back she was left breathless, her face red, and her eyes wide. "I can handle it, but it looks like you can't."

Grimmjow then left the room and she heard water running from his room while she was left in a state of slight shock as she touched her lips. Between him surprising her, and demon hollow frogs she didn't know if she was going to survive the week.


End file.
